Why am I always helping you?
by DarkAngelWind
Summary: Blank really didn't like the kid, but for some reason he couldn't stop himself from helping Zidane, even when it led to the greatest sacrifice.  Pre-game!
1. Chapter 1

_Why am I always helping you?_ Blank tried to push the unwarranted thought from his mind. He didn't have time to ask himself stupid questions, he needed to run. Not for himself, but for them. He wasn't trying to hard to escape anymore, he let himself fall behind. It was the only way they could be safe. He had to do this. He threw Zidane the map, sacrificing himself for the blonde once again. He had to wonder, even as the bastards grabbed him: _Why?_

* * *

Blank paced back and forth across the room, waiting for the arrival of his new roommate. He wasn't waiting there by his own choice, however. Blank would much rather be eating breakfast with the rest of Tantalus. Nevertheless, the moment the redhead left his room Cinna announced that the Boss and Marcus were going to get the newest member of Tantalus, and promptly tossed him back in. He insisted that Boss would be furious to have to search for Blank when he returned. Blank grudgingly admitted he was right, though he wasn't happy about it. Since then, Blank had been nearly bored to tears and was hungry enough to eat all of Lindblum.

In most cases, the Boss wouldn't be making this much of a fuss. A roommate was a common notion for a member of Tantalus. However, due to the…_unusual_ situation when Blank joined Tantalus, he was given his own room. Of course, that was six years ago and now there was no real reason for Blank to be by himself.

While he'd never admit it, Blank was pretty excited about the new member of Tantalus, especially since the boy was supposed to be around his age. Sure, he got along fine with Marcus and Cinna, but he'd really rather hang out with someone that wasn't eight years older than him. Best of all, Blank wouldn't be the youngest member of Tantalus anymore!

Blank glanced around his room, his eyes lingering on the randomly strewn clothes and muddy footprints. For the first time, the boy wondered if should've done something to make his room more presentable. Then he thought better of it. That was such a girly thing to worry about!

"All right, Zidane, welcome to your new home!" Blank jumped as he heard Marcus's voice. Turning around, Blank saw Marcus with his hands resting on the shoulders of a very strange boy. He had messy, golden-blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, and a suspiciously devious expression on his face. Blank disliked him immediately. However, that wasn't the strange part, as there were few people Blank liked. No, the strange thing was the boy's long furry tail! Blank gaped at it, unable to look away.

Marcus cleared his throat. "Blank, this is Zidane Tribal."

Blank finally tore his eyes from the tail. He held out a hand to the boy, doing his best to ignore the still- convulsing tail. "Hey. I'm Blank. Nice to meet ya." The boy merely ignored his outstretched hand and glared at him.

"What kinda name is Blank?"

Blank returned the boy's glare with an icy glower of his own. He hated when people insulted his name. He chose it when he was SIX, okay? That's pretty good for a six-year-old! At least it wasn't something stupid like Bo-Bo or Oglop or…well his name wasn't that great either.

"What kind of last name is Tribal?" He retorted, crossing his arms. "And that tail….what zoo did you escape from, Monkey Boy?"

Feeling the tension in the room escalate, Marcus suddenly realized he had yet to have his breakfast, and he was in fact quite starved, and…was that the Boss calling him? "Try not to kill each other!" He waved cheerily, "Boss wants everyone downstairs in ten minutes."

Blank barely noticed Marcus's departure. He couldn't believe this. After only five seconds, Blank already disliked the newest member of Tantalus. His room mate…that's right, he WAS going to have to share a room with the boy…and with that gleam in the boy's eye, Blank wouldn't be surprised if he found snakes in his bed. Maybe it would pay to be friendly.

"So…Zidane, right? Sorry, I didn't mean to sound rude. I'm just tired," he lied. Zidane continued to stare at him. "So, uh…why'd you join Tantalus?" He hoped that would be a good conversation starter, though he already knew the story. Marcus had found the boy wandering the streets of Lindblum- well…Zidane found Marcus, really. He had tried to pick his pocket, and he was easily caught by the older thief. Instead of apologizing profusely or socking him and making a run for it, Zidane surprised Marcus by starting a conversation. Marcus pieced together that the boy was homeless, and, from his disconcertingly-visible ribs, wasn't eating too well. It was inevitable that the Boss would try to find Zidane and recruit him once he heard the story. While Baku may look intimidating, he was really a big softie, especially for kids. He couldn't resist giving any vagrant a place in Tantalus. That was why Tantalus had become some parody of the lost boys, filled with abandoned children, orphans, and runaways. And then there was Blank.

However, the boy didn't mention Marcus at all. He merely smirked at him with his tail drifting lazily and said, "I didn't really want to, but I felt bad for you guys."

"Felt bad for us? Why?" Blank asked, perplexed.

"Because you didn't have the help of Lindblum's king of thieves!" He declared proudly.

Blank stifled a laugh and bent into a deep, exaggerated bow. "My apologies, your Majesty, I had no idea I was in the presence of _royalty_!"

"Yeah, you can laugh now, but you won't be laughing when I'm filthy stinkin' rich and you're all begging at my feet." He said smugly.

"Nice dream, but that's not going to happen. We get whatever you steal." Blank wondered if it was mean that he so loved bursting the boy's bubble.

"What?" Zidane shouted, his rigid tail comically mirroring his irritation.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but if you want to live here you gotta give your share. It's not too bad when you get used it. You just gotta steal a little more than you normally would…but of course, that shan't be a problem for the king of thieves?"

"…'Course not. I'll still have more 'n all of you!" The too-happy smile returned to Zidane's face once more.

"Sure, sure…Anyway, we better head downstairs soon. You don't wanna get yelled at on your first day."

When Zidane was introduced to all of Tantalus, he once again told his little "king of thieves" story…after winking at every single person with boobs. They all thought he was adorable. Blank disagreed. Honestly, wasn't he eight or something? What the hell did he think he was doing?

After the meeting, everything returned to normal for the rest of Tantalus. Blank tried to blend in with the dispersing crowd, fearing that he would be-

"Blank! Get over here!" His heart sank as he faithfully returned to the Boss. "You and Zidane are partners today, got that? I want you to show him the ropes."

"I don't need his help!" Zidane protested, "I already know how to steal!"

"And I'm not a babysitter." Blank said callously.

"Well that's too bad...I'm not letting either of you out of this building unless you're together. While you're here, I suppose I have to find something else for you to do…let's see…"

Blank's eyes widened as he imagined the tortures unfolding in Baku's mind. "Babysitting's nice!" Blank squeaked as he raced out of the room, puling Zidane along with him. Baku's laughter followed him all the way out of the hideout.

"What the heck, Blank?" Zidane said indignantly as he twisted out of Blank's grip.

"You don't want to know the things the Boss will think up. Trust me." The redhead muttered. "And where do you think you're going, Monkey Boy?" Blank called after the fleeing blonde. As he chased him, he grabbed the first thing that came into his reach: Zidane's tail. The resulting screech was quite satisfying.

"What was that for!" Zidane shouted, rubbing his backside mournfully.

"Look, I don't like it either, but Boss's orders are to stay together. Besides, I gotta make sure you don't do something stupid."

"I'm fine on my own! I did this everyday before I joined Tantalus!"

"Good for you. But now you_ are_ in Tantalus, and for today that means we're partners. Can we just get started already?"

"You're just going to slow me down…" Zidane grumbled.

"Oh, really? Hey, that reminds me…weren't you going to show me your awesome stealing skills, oh king of thieves?"

"Oh, right!" The grin returned to Zidane's face as he unsheathed his dagger. He scanned the crowd, searching for a proper target. His eyes lit up as he spotted a wealthy noble, clearly a tourist. No Lindblum local would ever keep a bulging purse in open sight, especially not in this part of town. "Watch and be amazed!" Zidane tried to ignore the chuckle he heard behind him.

Blank watched as a blonde blur zipped past the noble, then back to the alley where he waited. Zidane was beaming as he held up the finely embroidered pouch. He hadn't even seen him snatch it. Blank had to admit, the kid was fast. But still…

"You're way too reckless." Blank commented dryly,

"Huh?" was Zidane's only reply as his smile faded.

"You heard me. Did you even look where you were going? You're lucky you didn't smash into someone, or even stab them when you were going that fast! Careless stunts like that will work on a tourist, but never a local. And on another thief- forget it! Watch and learn, monkey boy."

Blank let the indignant remarks of the blonde fade into the background as he stepped into the crowd. He merged into a group of people, pretending he was part of them. As he walked, he cut the purse of every person that passed him heading the other direction and let them fall into his hand. He returned to Zidane with five purses, looking more than a bit smug.

"Show-off. I thought we were just going after one, I can totally beat that!" Zidane protested.

"Go ahead." Blank said, starting to enjoy the challenge.

Zidane seemed to be copying Blank at first, slowly meandering through the crowd, but then he began to run again. By the time Zidane came back to the alley, he held seven purses, two necklaces, and a gold bracelet.

Blank raised his eyebrows. "Now how did a shortie like you reach up high enough to snag those necklaces?"

"Because I'm the king of thieves~!" Zidane sang.

"That's not an answ- whatever. You're still being way too careless. Watch what a master can do!" Blank said excitedly.

He waltzed back into the crowd, now enthralled with the game. He casually walked up to a woman and complimented her on her earrings. The woman, flattered that a young boy actually cared about her earrings, began to boast about them. As she talked, Blank seized the chance to nab the three rings of her finger, all of which had brilliant gemstones. He continued to rob people in this way, commenting so they'd focus on something and then stealing their jewelry and purses while they were distracted. Blank nearly skipped back to Zidane, arms laden with expensive trinkets of all kinds. Zidane's jaw nearly dropped at the sight of Blank's feat.

"I can still do better than that!" The blonde insisted. He rushed into the crowd, once more becoming a blur. For a moment, everything seemed to go fine…until Blank heard a shriek.

"H-hey! That's my...stop! Stop, thief! Help!" echoed from somewhere in the crowd. He rolled his eyes. He knew that Zidane would be caught eventually. Stuffing his pockets with their loot, the redhead ran into the crowd in search of the younger Tantalus member. It wasn't hard to find him. The angry mob of guards hot on his heels made locating him quite simple. Blank sighed and looked for something he could use to help him. His eyes fell on some stones on the ground. Good enough. As he threw the stones at the guards, they all turned to him.

"Shit." Was all Blank could say before he darted away. Out of the corner of his eye he could see that Zidane never looked back. Jerk. And now the guards were chasing both of them, though the distraction helped Zidane to be a bit farther away. But Blank knew just how to evade Lindblum guards. He vanished into the crowds, and the guards eventually gave up on finding the thieves.

When the boys finally reunited at the hideout, Blank flashed Zidane a murderous glare that chilled him to the bone. Despite it, Zidane plastered a smile on his face. "Sorry 'bout leaving you back there, Blank!" Zidane exclaimed cheerily.

Blank's glare never wavered. "Some brother you are. "

"What?"

"We're all brothers in Tantalus. We look after each other. We don't leave each other behind." Blank stated coldly.

Zidane laughed. "Brothers? That's just stupid. I have no brother; I'm the King of Thieves!"

"Whatever, Monkey Boy. Just don't expect me to help you again."

* * *

Zidane figured he could deal with being stuck with Blank for one morning, but he quickly tired of being paired up every morning, of every day, of every week, of every MONTH! It'd been a year! He could steal on his own, dammit! Sure, he got caught on his first day in Tantalus, but that never happened again! Were they ever going to trust him?

Zidane did his best to ditch Blank. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes he found himself cornered by the redhead…or he'd never get a chance to escape and his tail would be brutally abused once again. Blank told him that he was just following orders, but Zidane wondered if Blank enjoyed tormenting him. Either way, Zidane had officially acquired his own stalker. And Blank still wouldn't use his name! It was always "Monkey Boy" or "kid" or something. Actually, all of Tantalus had taken to calling him "kid" and treating him like a baby. It was more infuriating when he realized that Blank was only a year older than he, but no one ever treated Blank like this.

Well, whatever. Today was the day he was going to get some respect in Tantalus. He'd been planning for this for a while. He was going to steal from the Castle…well, if he managed to escape Blank first. But today, he had a plan for that as well.

"Come on, Blank! We're gonna miss it!" Zidane called over his shoulder. He laughed at the sight of his Tantalus "brother" looking so exhausted. Even after a year, Blank still couldn't keep up with Zidane.

"Why…come you… wanna see the sh-show so…badly?" Blank's words came in strange spurts as he struggled to speak. "You-you can just…go T-Tantalus play…or be…one!"

"I_ told_ you already! I promised this really cute girl I'd go see her!"

"Ohh….I see this is…really 'portant…more than…our jobs? And…you're like…eight kid…how you…g-gettin'… all… " Blank huffed.

"Alright, seriously Blank I have no idea what you're saying." Zidane admitted. All he figured out from the boy's words was the he'd gotten his age wrong once again. Zidane was eleven. ELEVEN. It wasn't that hard to remember, it was a year younger than Blank.

As they reached the theater, Blank nearly collapsed. He bent over, fighting to catch his breath. "Hey! That's her! I wanna go to talk to her before the show, 'kay?" Zidane didn't give Blank a chance to speak before he disappeared into the crowd. Blank stayed where he was, realizing he'd been tricked but too tired to do anything.

"Bastard…" He finally spat when he caught his breath. Sighing, the redhead rushed after him. "Why am I always helping you?" Blank thought aloud as he scanned the city streets. "Why can't I just leave you to your own stupidity?" But Blank knew he couldn't. Even when it meant trouble for himself, and though Zidane resented him for it, Blank never stopped watching out for Zidane. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop. He had become Zidane's guardian angel, and the crazy brat definitely needed one.

But now there was no sign of Zidane anywhere, and everyone he asked said they hadn't seen a blonde boy with a tail. Sighing, Blank leaned against the wall of an alley.

"If I were a stupid Monkey Boy, where would I go?" Well that was a dumb question. He could be anywhere in Lindblum. He could be in a pub trying to have his first drink, or getting way over his head with a girl, or tying to break into the castle itself…

The castle. He was at the castle. He had that glint in his eye, the glint he had when he was planning something that was too much for him too handle. Like robbing Lindblum Castle. And, if Zidane had an ounce of sense at all, he'd try to enter through the construction site. Apparently they had been in the process of clearing land for some new airship docks, but the site had remained untouched for quite a while…and the workers left everything behind. It was rumored there were even bombs at the site, as they never finished clearing the area. Blank rushed off in the direction of the castle.

There it was. Lindblum Castle, the biggest building in one of the biggest cities on Gaia. And it was filled with the most extravagant items a thief could dream of. Items which were about to belong to Zidane.

He went to the abandoned construction zone first. He was pretty shocked they hadn't tightened security around the zone…it almost seemed like some people were begging to be robbed. It was just a bit spooky at the zone. He knew it had been abandoned because there were too many monsters in the area, and the Lindblum authorities didn't want to deal with all of them. So, they left the zone like a ghost town, hoping they would remain there. They also left behind bombs used to clear the land, and everyone once in a while one of them would blow, and the sound would reverberate around Lindblum.

"Zidane!" The boy's heart sank. How could Blank have found him so fast? Was it that obvious he was going here? Still, there was no way he was going to let Blank ruin his chance for glory.

"Leave me alone, Blank." Zidane said hostilely.

"Now why would I want to do that? Looks like you're having LOTS of fun in the most dangerous place in Lindblum!" Blank called sardonically.

"Blank, I'm serious. Go away."

Ignoring Zidane completely, Blank entered the construction site, stepping gingerly as if he was walking on broken glass. In response, Zidane dashed towards the castle.

"Dammit, kid!" Blank complained as he followed his charge. Zidane glanced behind him, infuriated to see Blank still chasing him.

"Blank, fuck off!" Zidane shouted.

"Kid, I'm not- ZIDANE!" Blank screamed in horror. Zidane turned around again, unable to conceal his curiosity about the panic in the redhead's voice. To his surprise, Blank knocked him to the ground.

"BLANK, WHAT THE HELL ARE-" But Zidane's confusion was short-lived as he heard the explosion. Despite the redhead's efforts to protect him, Zidane found himself thrown from Blank's arms and flung across the grass. The bomb seemed to smother him and stifle all of his senses. All he could do was hear, as he listened to the horrible sound of an explosion that sounded so much worse than when he was safe in the city…And he listened to the screaming. Someone was screaming over and over, but Zidane found himself unable to get up. He could do nothing but lie there uselessly and try to block out the intensifying agony in the voice.

Finally, the bomb stopped. Now all that was left was this ghastly weeping and screeches of someone under the ultimate torment. When Zidane at last placed the voice, he jumped to his feet, his own pain forgotten.

"Blank? Oh shit! I…don't move! I'll get help!" But he knew there was no way Blank would be able to move anyway. The boy had huge gaping holes in his body, and his leg looked like it was being held together by strings, and there was so much blood, so much blood…


	2. Chapter 2

Pain. That was the first thing Blank felt as he awoke. Intolerable, unimaginable pain. He could sense cold metal that seemed to be slicing off his own skin. Every time the scissors touched him , pain resonated through him as if he'd been shot. And then there were needles…every so often, Blank would feel the needles bobbing in and out of his skin as if he were a piece of cloth. He tried to scream, but no sound came from his already-hoarse throat. He writhed, blindly attempting to escape from whatever creature was tormenting him, but instead he merely felt the scissors graze more of his skin. Warm liquid trickled out of the wound, adding to the dangerous amount of blood Blank had already lost that day. Then, Blank realized his pants were wet, and not from blood. Fantastic.

"Put him back under!" A gruff, alien voice shouted.

Blank wanted to cry out as he felt the cloth press against his face, but instead he found himself relaxing.

"No, that's too much! He's just a kid!" The voice bellowed once more. _What's too much? _Blank wondered to himself as he slipped into a blissful oblivion.

Blank faded in and out of consciousness, unable to discern his nightmares from reality. More often than not, his world was filled with shadows that tried to claw him back into their depths. Even when he resisted, he was plagued by horrible visions.

There were three dreams that perpetually haunted him. In one he chased a yellow monkey through an overgrown field filled with bombs. When he finally reached the monkey, he saw a Bomb. It was ironic; really, that the fiery monster had the same name as the object it passed, unintentionally lighting the fuse. Everything disappeared as fire engulfed Blank. In another dream, Blank was on the streets of Lindblum, looking for a good target. Instead of robbing the citizens of Lindblum, however, Blank found that he became the victim of thievery. But what was stolen was not just Gil or simple trinket, it was more precious than gold. Though Blank couldn't remember what it was, he knew he needed it back and doggedly searched Lindblum, but to no avail. Finally, in Blank's third dream he was racing down an endless hallway, forever trying to reach a slowly closing door. Each time he had the dream, the opening seemed smaller, and the light spilling from it seemed dimmer and dimmer.

Then there were the whispers, constant murmurs that Blank rarely understood. Though he tried his best, the voices sounded as though Blank was underwater….and miles away. Still, there were the rare snatches that met his ears:

"…least they stopped it from spreading to the other eye…"

"…doctor said not to get our hopes up…"

"…wanted to give him…"

"…won't eat…"

"When's he supposed to wake up?"

"Don't know what that kid'll do if he…"

"…it's been too long…"

"I'm so sorry, Baku…"

"…doctor wants to see him tomorrow..."

"…should've been awake a week ago…"

Blank tried to answer the voices, or at least hear the entire sentence, but he failed every time. In his stupor, he still wasn't sure where he was or what was happening. All he had were the voices, the dreams, and this strange feeling he couldn't get rid of. Part of Blank felt alien, as if it belonged to another person. The sensation terrified him, so that he was almost glad when he faded into emptiness. Today, however, Blank felt much more aware.

"Hey, Blank. How are ya feeling?" A familiar voice whispered, probably not expecting an answer.

"Zidane…?" Blank mumbled sleepily. His voice was scratchy, as if he hadn't used it in a quite a while.

"BLANK!" Zidane's shocked shout could be heard throughout the Tantalus hideout.

"Zidane, what the heck are you shouting for? Boss'll kill you if he hears you yelling in here!" Marcus "whispered" as he rushed into the room.

"Marcus…?"

"Holy shit! Blank? Zidane, why didn't you tell anyone he was awake?" Marcus demanded.

"Well, I was TRYING, but then you start yelling at me!" Zidane said indignantly.

"Wa's goin' on…" Blank murmured almost incoherently. His grip on the world was once again fading, and he could feel himself slipping back into unconsciousness.

"I'll get the Boss!" Blank barely heard Marcus as he gave up once more.

Since that day, Blank had spoken to five members of Tantalus and one shocked doctor. He never said more than a few feverish words and usually fell asleep soon after, but it still was a relief to know that they wouldn't have to plan a funeral for a twelve-year-old child. And every time Blank awoke, he stayed conscious for just a little longer. It seemed likely the boy was going to make it.

However, no one was more excited than Cinna. He was tired of going to the boy's stuffy makeshift hospital room. He should've been in a real hospital, but the doctor had sent him back to Tantalus after a few days, saying there was nothing more to do but wait. Apparently, he didn't have the room for an extra patient. Cinna believed that the doctor had already deemed Blank dead. Still, he didn't mind going to visit the boy. He didn't even mind changing his bandages or feeding him or whatever Baku had ordered him to do that day. It was the fact he had to look at him.

"I knew you'd pull through, Blank." Cinna said softly, "that lousy doctor didn't know what he was talking about." He always did this, this one-sided conversation, whenever he went to check on Blank. They all did. It gave them something to focus on other than the redhead's face. Usually, Cinna continued to talk to himself, but out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw…no, he didn't imagine it. As Cinna looked on sympathetically, Blank's eyes twitched, opened for a split-second, and then slammed shut in pain. He didn't blame him; it must be hard to adjust to two different eyes…

Blank continued his attempts to open his eyes, his forehead creasing in pain every time. Finally, his eyes opened long enough to see the man standing over him. "…Cinna? Wa's wrong with my eyes?" Blank slurred.

"Nothin'. You just haven't used them in a while." Cinna lied. Let someone else break it to the boy. Boss, or Marcus. Even Zidane. Cinna just didn't have the heart to tell him.

"Cinna…?" Blank said again.

"Yeah, Blank?"

"…I don't feel… like me…"

Cinna fished for a good story to give Blank, but nothing came to mind. To his immense relief, he didn't need to as Zidane bounded into the room.

"Is that Blank?" Zidane called excitedly. Cinna let the boy see for himself. "Blank! You're awake!" He raced over to the boy, frantically waving tail mimicking the grin on his face.

"Hey, Zidane…" Blank mumbled with a small smile. "Wa's up?"

"You lying here like a dead person for two weeks and scaring the crap out of us, THAT'S what's up!" Zidane shouted, hands at his hips.

"Whoa, take it easy, Zidane! I'm going to get everyone, all right?" Cinna said. He received no response.

"Oh, right, almost forgot…" Zidane exclaimed as he emptied his pockets onto Blank's bedside table. Blank heard a tinkling sound and saw a flash of something shiny. Confused, he struggled for a few minutes to sit up. Finally, Zidane helped the boy right himself out of pity. Blank turned and saw a thief's trove strewn across the nightstand.

"What's this?"

"This is your share!" Zidane said as he gestured dramatically. "You said yourself that everyone needed to give part of their loot to live here. This is yours."

"This is…wow. How'd you get so much?"

Zidane shrugged. "Tried some different methods. Slowed down, looked where I was going…" The grin never left his face.

Blank smiled in response, but then his smile faded into a frown. "I remember…there was an explosion. Are you okay?"

"You're asking ME?" Zidane laughed, "You should be more worried about yourself! I thought we'd lost you back there when you decided to play Mr. Hero...thanks for that, by the way…" He added quickly.

"Why am I always helping you, anyway?" Blank said, shaking his head.

"I'm just too awesome for you to resist!"

"Clearly." Blank said as he punched Zidane. It was light, but it still surprised the blonde.

"I can see you're feeling better." Baku exclaimed as he walked into the room, Marcus and Cinna close behind. Blank's face lit up at the sight of his friends and his adoptive father.

"Of course he has! He's already gone back to abuse." Zidane moaned.

"I think Blank can do whatever he wants to you after what he went through." Baku chuckled.

Zidane started to protest, but Blank cut him off, "What…exactly happened to me? I know there was an explosion, and Zidane said I've been in bed for two weeks…am I…okay?"

"You're alive, Blank. That's the important part." Baku said seriously.

Blank laughed nervously. "You make it sound like an excuse, like you're worried I'll be upset. And I still don't feel…normal."

"What do you mean?" Marcus asked.

"Like…I know this sounds crazy but it's like…some of me is just…different."

"Cinna, go get Blank a mirror." Baku ordered. The man quickly scrambled away.

Blank stared at the sea of sympathetic faces, starting to get annoyed. "Okay, seriously, is there something on my face?" As he spoke, he reached up to feel his head, and was shocked when his hand found rough, unfamiliar skin. "What…?"

"Got it!" Cinna shouted as he handed Blank the hand mirror.

Blank stared at his reflection. He kept attempting to speak, but he couldn't utter more than unintelligible nonsense. First of all, Blank was covered in burns, cuts, and even a few stitches. He could deal with that. But some parts of him, the parts he assumed they couldn't save with mere stitches and bandages, were covered in…skin. Was it skin? It was dark in color, and there was a blatant difference between the grafts and Blank's own pale skin. Then there was his eye…while one eye was still bright green, the other eye was a ghastly amber shade that bordered on orange. And not only that, but it wasn't the right shape. The pupil was incredibly small compared to his real eyes, and again you'd be blind to not notice that it looked unnatural.

Well wasn't this just fantastic? First his memory, his home, his family. Then his name. And now Blank's body wasn't entirely his own.

Blank laughed darkly. "Hey, look. I'm FrankenBlank." His hand began to shake, and then he hurled the mirror onto the ground. No one moved to pick up the broken shards of glass.

"All right. Everyone out." Baku said, breaking the silence. Cinna and Marcus left immediately. "Zidane. That includes you."

"But I-"

"Zidane! Tantalus goes on in three hours, and if Ruby told me right, you haven't even _glanced_ at your script. I'd go read if I were you."

Zidane made a huge show of leaving, his tail drooping tail accenting the over-exaggerated sadness on his face. Baku slammed the door behind him with a sigh.

"Blank…"

"Don't call me that." Blank snapped.

Baku stared Blank down for a few a moments until the redhead finally looked away. Then, he softened and walked towards him. "You know, I still ask around whenever we visit a new town."

"Why bother!" Blank shouted. "Even if my family's still alive, how would they even recognize me?"

"You're still you. It doesn't matter if you die your hair purple and get lime-green polka-dots over your body, Blank. They'll know it's you."

"You have to say that. You're my dad!"

Baku smiled at his words. "That's 'cause it's true."

Blank fell silent for a moment, deep in thought. "Whose is it?" Blank said suddenly. Baku stared at him in confusion. "Whose skin, whose eye? I want to know, Boss. Where'd they get it?"

"Does it really matter? It saved you either way."

"It does matter. I don't want it! I WANT TO KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS ON ME! IF YOU CAN"T FIND IT OUT, THEN I DON'T WANT IT!" Blank screamed. Then he froze, gripping his chest in pain.

"…You're gonna pop a stitch, Blank. Go back to sleep." Baku commanded, not wanting to continue the conversation any further. The silence as he left the room was almost smothering.

Blank sat on his bed, fuming. He felt like a monster. He_ looked_ like a monster. Why did he have to be so stupid? Why did he have to go and help that idiot?

"What was that all about?" Blank jumped as heard Zidane's voice. He hadn't even realized that the boy had snuck back into room, but there he was, leaning against the door with his tail swishing casually.

"Nothing." Blank muttered, refusing to meet Zidane's eyes. "Now, get outta here before Boss finds you."

Zidane laughed. "He won't catch me! Besides, I'm curious…what was that about you dyeing your hair purple and have 'green polka-dot skin'?"

"Is that really all you heard?" Blank asked.

"More or less."

Blank gave a long and deep sigh. "All right Zidane, I'm going to tell you a story, 'kay?"

"Okay…" Zidane sounded confused.

"So there was this kid, about six years old, who woke up one day and didn't know who he was. He knew he had had a life, but everything from his life- the memories and the people themselves- was gone now. He was confused and scared, but he didn't want to show it, so he acted like a tough guy and roamed the streets of Lindblum...One of the few things he did know was that he wasn't used to this rough life, and he couldn't survive. He started dying…until he was found by a nice man who offered him a home-"

"Wait, wait, wait. You joined Tantalus as a six-year-old? Little toddler Blank was out there robbing Lindblum?"

"No. I wasn't allowed to steal for a looong time. I became more of the foster child of Tantalus, with Baku as my dad…but not a little kid like you." Zidane glared at Blank, who ignored it, "So, that's my story.

`Zidane's glare melted into a smile. "You know, I can't remember my family either."

"Really?" Blank was truly shocked. It always seemed like everyone but he had a family.

Zidane nodded. "Well…we can be each other's family, then! We can be brothers…for real now, not just because of Tantalus!" Zidane said with his tail waving excitedly.

"All right, so you're my brother now! Just promise me one thing: Don't ever let me help you again!"

* * *

Cold. An icy chill started in Blank's toes and slowly spread through his body and he squirmed helplessly in the monster's clutches. Horrified, he realized he could no longer move his legs, then his waist, then his arms..._Zidane._ He thought to himself before his mind went numb, _Guess I can't help you anymore. Don't screw up, kid._


End file.
